From June until September, look for scores of native bees, honey bees, wasps, moths, and butterflies buzzing around this plant. Mountain mints are also super pollinator attractors, with their nectar drawing a host of beneficial insects. Mountain mints are known for their rabbit and deer-resistant properties. Aside from smelling great, these plants have a lot going for them. However, both share a minty or thyme-like fragrance when crushed. Both the culinary mints we know and mountain mints are in the same scientific family ( Lamiaceae), but they are different genera - Mentha and Pycnanthemum, respectively. In their naturally occurring habitats, you’ll often find them growing in moist open fields, at the edges of forests, and in lower elevations despite the alpine-sounding name. Mountain mints are native to the Eastern US and grow in all areas of North Carolina. ( Image Credit: Judy Gallagher CC BY 4.0) _ CharacteristicsĪ host of pollinators including butterflies and moths are drawn to the plant’s enticing nectar. With the interest in pollinator-friendly gardening on the rise, I began hearing horticultural experts sing mountain mints’ ( Pycnanthemum spp.) praises as one of their top picks for the landscape. Well…how about mountain mints? I really only became aware of these plants within the last few years. While plants in the Mentha genus such as spearmint ( Mentha spicata) and peppermint ( Mentha x piperita) may invoke pleasant memories of chewing leaves on lazy afternoons in your grandmother’s garden and definitely have an honored place in the culinary world, their invasive growth habits can show little respect for boundaries and quickly become problematic in the garden. Merely mentioning the word mint to gardeners may send them running in the opposite direction for fear of being overtaken right where they stand by this pungent, intoxicating herb. Mountain Mint still putting on a show in September.
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